\u201cHe is not seeking recognition, but instead wishes to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel and community for the outpouring of love and support,\u201d Freeman said, noting that her son is a lifelong resident of Bend, a mountain-ringed city of about 100,000 in central Oregon.<\/p>\n
She said her family was asking for privacy \u201cduring this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The youngest victim, just 5 years old, was a fast runner and fearless climber who loved reading and his stuffed animals, his aunt said Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never met a stuffie that he didn\u2019t think needed to be rescued and cared for,\u201d said his aunt, Swan Sheridan, who described him as \u201ca little ball of energy from the moment he was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump says the shooting could have been much worse<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump on Friday praised the actions of a \u201cgreat hero\u201d who he said \u201ctook care of business\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House, adding the tragedy likely would have been much worse.<\/p>\n
At a news conference hours after Thursday\u2019s attack, Governor Tina Kotek \u2014 without naming Giamanco \u2014 said he had followed the gunman into the school and helped end the rampage as police began arriving.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well,\u201d said Kotek.<\/p>\n
Memorials with flowers, balloons and stuffed animals popped up around the school, which sits in a densely packed neighbourhood filled with newly built homes.<\/p>\n
Brooke Olsen, whose daughter is a kindergartner at Silver Rail, said she was amazed that someone pursued the shooter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s miraculous that someone was there before law enforcement even arrived to stop further tragedy from happening,” Olsen said Friday, weeping at times. “I\u2019m feeling very grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shooter used a gun bought by his mom<\/p>\n
![\"Dara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792193290_966_dara-crawford-cries-during-a-candlelight-vigil-at-drake-park-T7QDJF7Y65EALEYQPXADBHJDAY.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Dara Crawford cries during a candlelight vigil at Drake Park following a deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon on Thursday, October 15, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
The 16-year-old suspect, identified only as a Bend resident, was found dead inside the school minutes after the first calls for help, Police Chief Mike Krantz said. Police said he got into the school by shooting through locked doors.<\/p>\n
The children who were killed were ages 5, 8 and 11, Krantz said. Authorities didn\u2019t give details about the teacher who was killed. Another 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were wounded in the attack and were taken to a hospital in critical condition, he said.<\/p>\n
The attacker used a pump-action shotgun that was purchased by his mother, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting. The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the investigation.<\/p>\n
Under Oregon law, a minor may possess a shotgun if provided by a parent or by someone else with the parent\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n
Police said they didn’t know if the shooter knew anyone at the school or if he had attended it.<\/p>\n
Police respond within minutes<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792193290_878_a-person-places-flowers-at-a-makeshift-memorial-on-the-other-55AE5P2SURFNNFVD4R2AKVKPIU.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A person places flowers at a makeshift memorial on the other side of Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on Friday, October 16, 2026, a day after a deadly shooting. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
The first 911 call came early in the afternoon from someone outside the school who reported being shot at by someone with a long gun, the police chief said. More 911 calls came from inside the school, and officers arrived within minutes, police spokesperson Sheila Miller said.<\/p>\n
The attacker was shot and went down inside the school shortly after officers arrived, she said.<\/p>\n
The school has students in kindergarten through fifth grade, with about 450 enrolled last year, according to the Oregon Department of Education.<\/p>\n
Children were taken by bus to a nearby church serving as a reunification centre for families. Parents hugged, kissed and held their kids\u2019 hands as they walked to their cars, with some bringing along favourite stuffed animals or other comfort items from home.<\/p>\n
A community grieves<\/p>\n
Shaken residents held a vigil, where children drew hearts in chalk on the sidewalk and held candles side-by-side with adults.<\/p>\n
Classes and all other activities were cancelled Friday for the area\u2019s 32 schools.<\/p>\n
Bend, the biggest city in central Oregon, is about 200 kilometres southeast of Portland. It has ballooned in population over the past three decades and is a tourism and outdoor recreation hub.<\/p>\n
The shooting was the 28th mass killing in the US this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.<\/p>\n
Just four years ago in Bend, a grocery store employee who had served in the US Army attacked a gunman who was spraying shots inside the supermarket. Both the employee, whom police hailed as a hero, and a customer were killed, and the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A teacher threw her phone at the teenage gunman who killed four people at an Oregon elementary school,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,42,43,64,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-632890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}